Run from our office just off St Ann’s Square, The Mill is for people who want local news without endless pop-up ads or misleading “clickbait” headlines. We produce local journalism that is both informative and enjoyable to read — including investigations, absorbing culture pieces and opinionated columns about the biggest local talking points.
Our investigations have led to the resignation of Andy Burnham's advisor Sacha Lord, the suspension of the leadership of the University of Greater Manchester and several mentions in parliament.
We believe in the power of proper reporting and good writing rather than chasing clicks, and we particularly focus on giving our readers the context they need to understand what’s really going on. We know people are inundated with information so we purposely focus on offering quality rather than quantity.
If that sounds like your kind of thing, join our list now.
“I’m backing Mill Media because of the exceptional quality of its journalism and because it’s such an interesting and encouraging initiative.”
Mark Thompson, CNN chief executive and former CEO of the New York Times
“I love the ambition of bringing deeply-reported narrative journalism to local news.”
Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and the New Yorker.
“A great read. Subscribe, fellow Mancunians.”
Michael Rawlinson KC, long-time Mill member
How it works
- Some of our journalism is free. Just sign up to our mailing list below and you will get one original story from us every week, plus our Monday news briefing which rounds up the most important stories in Greater Manchester and recommends great things to do.
- Mill members get everything we publish. They pay £8.95 a month (or just £1.71 a week if they subscribe for a year) and receive our stories in their inboxes four days a week. Members also join our discussion threads, contribute to our reporting and support our growth as we build a new home for high-quality journalism in Greater Manchester.
Click the button below to join our free mailing list or become a paying member.
Advertise: If your company or organisation wants to partner with us and reach our highly engaged readers across Greater Manchester, please email grace@millmediaco.uk or visit our ads page.
Send us a story: If you have a story that you'd like to share with us, we have a page about how we investigate your tips and how to get in touch. We always treat your information anonymously and sensitively.
The Mill
The people behind The Mill
The Mill was launched during the Covid-19 lockdown by me, Joshi Herrmann, to give Greater Manchester a different kind of news coverage. I have worked as a journalist for a decade, including reporting for The Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph and The Evening Standard. Now we have a team of three staff journalists in the office and a brilliant network of freelance contributors, including some of the best writers in the North. You can read some of my Mill stories here, including my long read about the tensions between the residents of New Islington and the old Ancoats.
Our long serving staff writer is Jack Dulhanty, who grew up in Salford and joined us after finishing his journalism course in January 2022. Jack's long read about the Michelin-star restaurant Mana was one of The Mill's earliest hits back in 2022, as was his piece about Mark Garner, the founder of Manchester Confidentials. Last year, Jack was longlisted for the Paul Foot Award, the most prestigious investigative journalism award in the country, after he revealed that Andy Burnham's night-time czar Sacha Lord had lied on an application that earned him £400,000 in Covid-19 funding from Arts Council England.
Jack Walton also joined us in 2022. His recent piece, revealing the leader of a campaign to raise Union flags around Manchester in protest against immigration is actually a convicted people smuggler, has become one of our most-shared ever, picked up in multiple national publications and the New York Times.
And finally, the newest member of our team is Ophira Gottlieb, who lives in Todmorden and writes some of our most beautiful features, having previously written for the Quietus, the Guardian, and the Fence. This piece about the bitter fight among parents to get their children into Trafford grammar schools was one of the most commented on stories we've ran this year, while features about Bolton's chip shop king, the folk dancers of Bacup who refuse to stop blacking up and boggarts rank among our most esoteric hits.
"It’s already better than any local newspaper in Britain.”
Will Lloyd, Unherd
“You give us thoughtful in depth articles, beautifully illustrated, and as well as covering places and people I might never have heard of, you unpack political battles without ever coming down on one side or another. Kudos!”
Liz, Mill member
“This is brilliant! If you miss real, well-researched journalism without sensationalism and all the clickbait, have a read.”
Paula, Mill reader
What @ManchesterMill is doing stands a rebuke to prophecies of doom for local journalism. Such thoughtful stuff. https://t.co/zbhfHYzsWk
— Patrick Maguire (@patrickkmaguire) November 22, 2020
📻 Listen to our free podcast: The Manchester Briefing from The Mill, which rounds up the stories you need to know. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favoured podcast platform.
Get in touch
If you have a story that you think we should know about, please do get in touch by emailing editor@manchestermill.co.uk. If your story is sensitive, we will handle it with care. We are very used to dealing with confidential sources, and will never reveal the identity of contact unless they explicitly agree to their name appearing.
Write for The Mill
We are always on the lookout for great journalists, whether they are in the first year of their career or the 50th year. Our best pieces have been written both by people who have by-lines in the New York Times and The Guardian, and writers who are still studying.
We value compelling writing, good scoops and writers who like wandering around neighbourhoods to find out what’s really going on in peoples’ lives. If you would like to write for The Mill, please read our pitching guide.
If you have a complaint about something we have published, please follow our complaints procedure.
The Mill is part of Mill Media, registered in England as The Millers Publishing Company Limited (company no. 13761876). Registered office: 520, Manchester Royal Exchange Offices, Old Bank Street, Manchester, England, M2 7PE.